This is how I use them too. If I’ve got 4 rides and a break scheduled over two hours, it doesn’t really matter what order those happen in. The important thing is that breaks are inevitable. Long bathroom lines, a character spontaneously appearing right where you are, a sudden need for funnel cakes…
Building that time into the plan will prevent the need to rush meals, or race from ride to ride, or land in your own worst case scenario and skip something. It’s just more calm and pleasant.
This is my kind of touring! “Sleep when you’re dead” and all that!
Rest days don’t have to be boring days. Our rest days were filled with seeing resorts other than our own, going to non park restaurants, and things like the (Xmas) gingerbread house at the GF. Some of my favorite days were “down days.”
If you are traveling between resorts and going to non-park restaurants, then does it really feel like a rest day? I am working a rest day into my plan for our next trip, but then I started thinking that running around to Disney Springs and other resorts is essentially no different than doing a day at the parks. What am I missing? So now I’m thinking we will just hang out at the pool and our resort all day and maybe go to Disney Spring for dinner.
To me, doing other stuff around Disney is a rest day b/c that endless walking around a park and standing up so much isn’t part of the deal. It is more restful to sleep in and do things at an easier pace.
I haven’t gotten to read through all your plans so maybe you have done this.
But maybe for a “rest” day in the park you just start a little later plan to see some shows that day have an ADR. So just a slower pace break day but still in the parks.
Days closer to the end of our trip are more on a slower side. No rope drops per se, but planning to arrive around opening time for the most part.
I agree, ADRs for lunch can serve as a mini breaks, without travelling to resort and back. Will have some shows scheduled too, especially on HS days. 
Having a day where you don’t have a schedule of adr’s and fpp’s can be very different energy wise. I feel like trying to stick to a plan for 10 to 14 days straight can be tiresome (and even though I know this we dont take a rest day unless the trip is at least 10 or more days haha).
Our trips are typically 4.5 days. The most I have ever done is 8 days. We are considering making it 5.5 days next time to have a down time day. I can definitely see how on a 10+ day trip that a break from the parks day is needed.
I think your plans look pretty good and you will be fine. We have only ever gone for 8 days or less but our’s were similiar to your’s and we were fine. I will say it helps a lot you are going in January! The heat of summer helps in the exhaustion factor. Last time I went in January it was around the 22nd of the month and it was amazing! The temperatures REALLY factor in to how quickly you get worn down!
No matter what you do, no matter what you rest… you will be a million times more tired than you figure you could possibly be.
But it’s Disney tired so it doesn’t count!
Have lots of fun!
Thanks, we will!